How My Heart Behaves
by ravenna.solo.408
Summary: Set in a society that has determined that polyamory should be the norm, Rachel Berry begins a courtship with Blaine Anderson, Sam Evans, and Quinn Fabray. Come with them through the rocky terrain that is a new relationship. Will they stay together as a foursome or will they split up somehow?


**A/N: So this is one of those plot bunnies that has mutated substantially since I started with it. I'm hoping it's not too crack fic-like, and not too ooc for the characters. I feel super rusty. This is AU and kind of futuristic. TW: Polyamory and some possible bullying. **

**Prologue**

One by one doesn't work, and two by two seems better. The law had been this way since the Summer of '69. Due to a joint study by the marriage and family division of the Psychology departments at Ohio U, Ohio State, and Kent State, researchers found that divorce rates and cheating were less likely in polyamorous partnerships (found mostly in communes up until that point). The state legislature passed the bill almost unanimously and the marriages under it were to be treated equal to traditional marriages in the other 49 states.

Under the new law, existing marriages had a choice. They could join together with another couple

or couples and form a polyamorous partnership, or (in the case of most marriages formed before the sexual revolution), they could remain in their traditional marriage. However, any offspring of traditional marriages entering adolescence would be put into a lottery and matched up with three partners. Each partnership begins a courtship in their teen years and then enters into a marriage contract once all four have graduated from the four year college of their choosing.

The parents of these newly formed partnerships would work together to either build or purchase a house for their child and their new sons- and daughters-in-law. The newlyweds would then be free to continue building on the relationships they formed with their partners throughout high school and college and make decisions on who works in and outside of the home and what child-rearing duties would be shared. The partners are expected to know each other intimately and expected to treat their biological children the same as those of their other partners.

To keep the foursome from favoring one partner over the others, date nights are scheduled three times a week so that each possible pairing has equal time with each other. The other four nights can be spent however the group wishes, though the ultimate goal within the first five years of the marriage is to produce at least one child. In the event that one or more partners is found to be infertile, of course, the expectations are that the fertile partners are not to exclude the infertile ones from parenting decisions.

**Chapter One**

Everyone knew that when the principal's voice called four names over the loudspeaker, it was your time. You'd finally been chosen for a courtship. Your fate was sealed. Whether you liked it or not, you were matched with these people as partners and future co-parents. Your only hope was that the other three names were among your best friends. The names were called alphabetically by last name.

This morning during first period, the loudspeaker announced, "Will the following students report to Principal Sylvester's office immediately: Blaine Anderson, Rachel Berry, Samuel Evans, and Quinn Fabray."

Hearing the first three names, sixteen year old Rachel's smile grew wide, but then her heart dropped into her chest. What sort of cruel joke was this? It was no secret that Quinn was no fan of Rachel's. The girl hardly hid it with the insults she mumbled under her breath as they passed in the hallway. This had to be a mistake. Either that or the matchmaking method was changing this year. Maybe the rumors she'd heard were wrong? Maybe they called four names so that no one knew who would be matched with who? But then...her parents had lied to her all these years? And so had all their friends?

Rachel's heart was thumping loudly in her chest and she knew her whole class could hear it as she left the room and headed for the principal's office. Her paranoia was looking for buckets of pigs blood and slushies around every corner as she made her way through the corridors. Relief flooded her face as she saw Blaine come around the corner. She smiled at the curly-haired pianist and hugged him briefly.

"Hey partner," Blaine said, hugging her and rubbing her back. "Don't be nervous. Sammy and I've got you, okay?"

"I'm not worried about your two," Rachel said.

"I know," Blaine said. "I was shocked that our fourth is Quinn too. I thought for sure Finn and Puck would have rigged it somehow to have her in their quad."

"I almost wish they would have," Rachel said, worrying her bottom lip.

"None of that now," Blaine said, kissing her forehead as they continued walking.

Rachel gave him a half-smile as she opened the door to Sue's office and found Quinn and Sam already seated.

"About time, Treasure Trail," Quinn mumbled under her breath.

Sam looked up at Rachel and Blaine, smiling widely. "If it isn't may favorite triple threat Wonder Twins," he said.

Rachel laughed. "You do know we're not related, right?" she said.

"Well, not yet, anyway," Blaine said, doing some complicated boy handshake with Sam. He nodded to Quinn and helped Rachel into the chair between him and Sam.

"When you're done with the wisecracks," Sue said.

Blaine and Rachel nodded.

"Anyway, despite some attempted rigging by the kid with the Mohawk and Frankenteen, I've straightened out your match," Sue said.

Rachel had to stifle a laugh at the way Quinn's eyes bugged out of her head at the mention of Puck and Finn doing exactly what Blaine had suggested before. She made a strangled noise that sounded between a cough and a sneeze.

"You okay?" Blaine asked, grinning at their inside joke.

"Yeah, just a dust bunny," Rachel said.

"No more sidebars," Sue declared. "You four are going to start spending more time with each other and I don't care how it happens. You've been matched for reasons I still can't explain. Your parents have all been told, but the room wouldn't hold that many bodies safely. I was told to give you these." She spread out four gold-leafed invitations, one with each of their names. "Take them and go away."

Each of the teens took their envelope and opened it, leaving Sue's office as commanded.

Sam looked at Rachel. "It's a party at some big mansion!" he said.

Quinn glared from the invitation to the other three and back down. "You'd better all be grateful that my parents are willing to do this," she said, having noticed the location for the party.

Rachel's smile faded. There was no way Quinn's parents would want all of hers at this party. Quinn's family was reportedly from outside Ohio, so they were exempt from the breeding and coupling laws, much like Rachel's grandparents had been. Some of the families who were exempt never took on the second set of parents. And some–like the Andersons– didn't mind being matched with a second couple and co-parenting the existing children.

Rachel's parents lived apart. That is to say, her mothers lived in a house in Akron, and her fathers lived in Lima. They'd broken up shortly after Rachel's little sister Beth had been born. Beth lived with their mothers. Rachel had more of a "visiting cousin" relationship with her little sister. She wanted to be closer to Beth, but it really was safer for her parents to live apart. She wondered if her daddy and papa would concede to being in the same room as her mom and mama. Either way, she wasn't all that anxious to get home and discuss it with them.

Blaine waved his hand in front of Rachel's face. "Hey, Miss Streisand," he said. "Don't worry about this. Your parents and mine love each other, remember?"

Rachel laughed. "Yeah, I know...but–,"

"My moms will keep yours entertained and my dads will talk business with yours, simple as that," Blaine reassured her, kissing her knuckles.

Rachel blushed, squeezing his hand. "Well, okay," she said.

"Tell you what," Blaine said, leading her to the piano lab. "We'll prepare a couple songs for the party and get your parents up and dancing. They can't be mad when they're dancing."

Rachel grinned. "This is why you're my best friend," she said, kissing his cheek.

"We'll be more than that someday," Blaine said, giving her a hug.

Sam took Quinn by the hand and led her to their next class. He knew Blaine could get Rachel to be okay with this situation better than anyone. Until things had all calmed down, he was willing to help his best friend keep the girls separated until it was absolutely necessary.

"Alright, Trouty, you can let go now," Quinn said as they neared the room.

"Listen, little mama," Sam said, adopting a quasi-Elvis sneer. "The name calling stops now. My name is Sam. Not Trouty, Trouty-Mouth, or anything else Santana Lopez has ever called me, got it?"

"Whatever you say," Quinn said, walking past him and going to sit behind Brittany and Santana.

Sam sighed, taking the only seat left in the room in the back corner. This was going to be a long courtship. He watched the Unholy Trinity, listening for any signs that they were gossiping about Rachel. Even if he and Blaine hadn't been matched up with the tiny diva, Sam wouldn't stand for Quinn treating Rachel poorly. He'd have to talk to Blaine about this later. Probably over some Star Wars fan fiction. Sam took notes as best he could, waving sheepishly at Quinn when she glared in his direction. Of all the blonde Cheerios at this school, why did he have to be with her? Brittany wouldn't do this. He knew that the girl said some wacky things, but she had a good heart. Sam wasn't a hundred percent sure that Quinn had a heart that wasn't colder than his Nana's hands.

"Mr. Evans?" the teacher said.

"Oh, sorry," Sam said, squinting at the board. "Um twelve?"

"Very good, Mr. Evans," the teacher said. "Miss Fabray, what is the answer to the second equation?"

"Thirty," Quinn said, rolling her eyes and looking out the window.

"Look again, Miss Fabray," the teacher said, tapping the board with her pointer.

"Ten," Quinn said.

"Maybe if you and your friends weren't so busy gossiping throughout my class, you'd have gotten it right the first time," the teacher said.

Sam hid a smile as he saw the looks on Quinn, Brittany, and Santana's faces. Soon enough, the Unholy Trinity would be separated. Maybe once Quinn was away from Santana's influence she could start acting like a person rather than a bitch with a stick up her ass. Maybe. Sam was really not looking forward to being alone with Quinn. She was going to make life interesting for the three of them. And by interesting, Sam meant miserable. He made mental notes to shield the other two from whatever Quinn had planned for tormenting them. And he almost wished that uneven numbers were condoned.

"What are you staring at, Malibu Ken?" Santana asked, smirking at Sam.

"Was I staring?" Sam asked, tapping his pencil against his lips thoughtfully. "Forgive me, I was trying to figure out how much longer I had to endure listening to your snarky comments before the bell rang."

"Whatever, Trouty," Santana said, rolling her eyes and going back to her work.

Sam went back to his work, sick of how long his math class always seemed to be in comparison with the other classes. He thought it was probably because Santana was there. Sam had yet to forgive the Latina for the way she'd treated him while they "dated". No one deserved to be put down by the person they were dating. Mercifully, the bell rang and Sam collected his things. He wouldn't have to see Quinn now until glee. But he did have two classes with Blaine before lunch. He and Blaine kept each other in check during their mutual classes, and exchanged notes to make sure that they caught anything the other one missed. Sam went down the hallway and saw Blaine and Rachel saying goodbye at the door to the piano lab. He smiled as he caught up with them.

"Hey," Sam said, kissing Rachel's cheek awkwardly. He'd make it up to her later.

Rachel grinned. "Hey Sammy," she said, returning the cheek kiss and waving at the boys.

Blaine gave Sam a high five and the two boys walked down the two doors to their history class, chattering about Star Wars and Avatar.

Rachel sighed, going for her next class, wishing that Quinn and her cronies were not in it. She liked sitting in the front of most of her classes, but she hated the attention the Unholy Trinity paid her when she did it in their English class. She sat in the back corner and tried not to wince when Jacob Ben Israel sat next to her. Of all the unwanted attention...ick. She hoped the boy got his quartet some day so he'd be forced to leave her alone. Or even better, she hoped his parents would be re-districted so she'd never see him again. And then it got worse. Quinn sat in front of her. She was in hell, she just knew it. Even though her religion didn't actually have a hell per se, she knew this had to be it.

Quinn turned around and smiled at her. "Hello Rachel," she said sweetly.

"Quinn," Rachel said, nodding before starting on her notes.

"I'd have thought you'd have more to say to your future wife, Man Hands," Santana said from in front of Jacob.

"What we say to each other is none of your concern, Santana," Rachel said.

"Maybe and maybe not," Santana replied, taking out her nail file and drawing it across her manicure.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel asked.

"That's for me to know and for you to wonder about, Hobbit," Santana said.

Rachel rolled her eyes and went back to her notes. She kind of understood why her mothers and fathers lived in different cities. But none of their friends had been this obnoxious.

"Miss Lopez," their teacher said. "Can you tell me why Hester Prynne was made to wear a scarlet letter 'A' on her chest?"

"Because she had a nice ass?" Santana asked, smirking.

Brittany raised her hand.

"Brittany?" the teacher said.

"Because they wanted everyone to stay away from her?" Brittany suggested.

Some of the other students snickered. Rachel felt bad for Brittany, so she raised her hand.

"Rachel?"

"The 'A' was for adultery," Rachel replied. "Hester had intercourse out of wedlock and it resulted in a child. In my opinion, both parties were at fault and should have been condemned equally or not at all. The only 'punishment' befitting her 'crime' was for the person responsible to marry her and claim the child as his. Instead, she was shamed in front of the whole community when she was not the only wrong party."

Santana snickered.

"I agree with Rachel," Quinn said. Both Quinn and Rachel looked stunned at each other.

"So you're saying if you and one of your matches were to have a child before you actually married, the sentence should be marriage, Miss Fabray?" the teacher asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Quinn said. "Or adopt the kid out?"

"What if it wasn't one of your matches?" the teacher asked. "What if you were raped?"

"Definitely adoption, then," Quinn said. "Who would want to keep their rapist's baby?"

"Would you be alright with someone else raising your child?" the teacher asked.

"Maybe," Quinn said.

"I want you all to write a two page paper on whether or not Hester Prynne should have given up her child for adoption rather than raising it and living with the shame her society thrust upon her," the teacher said as the bell rang. "Due by next Friday."

Rachel wrote the notation in her day planner and stood up to leave, hoping she could sneak out and meet the boys.

"I'll catch up with you later," she heard Quinn say and then she felt Santana and Brittany move past her. She uttered a Yiddish curse word she'd heard her Nana Berry say once and turned around to smile at Quinn. "Yes?"

"Mind if we walk to biology together?" Quinn asked gruffly.

"Are you setting me up to get ambushed?" Rachel asked cautiously.

"No," Quinn replied.

"I'd have thought you'd rather get slushied in the hallway than be seen with me," Rachel said, walking with her.

"Yeah, well, I have to get used to our new situation, don't I?" Quinn said.

"I suppose you do," Rachel said. "Though my parents never quite did..."

"Yeah, I heard your mom and her wife live in Akron or something?" Quinn said. "What's it like?"

"What, Akron?"

"I mean..what's it like to have more than two parents?"

"Oh that...I don't know what to compare it to," Rachel said. "I've always had four parents and my little sister Beth. Though when I was ten, the moms took Beth and moved."

"Why was that?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know if I should tell you any more," Rachel said, feeling as if she'd said way too much already.

"Can't trust me yet, eh?" Quinn asked.

"No, not really, no," Rachel said, giving her an apologetic look.

"Maybe someday you will," Quinn said.

"We'll see," Rachel said. "But can I ask you one favor?" She twisted the edge of her sweater between the fingers on her right hand.

"What would that be?" Quinn asked, feeling the need to get defensive.

"Can you...not call me those names?" Rachel said in almost a whisper.

"What would you rather I call you?"

"My name, of course," Rachel said.

"Very well, I'll stop with the names, Rachel."

"And would you mind getting your friends to stop with them as well?"

"I can't control my friends," Quinn said, stopping in front of their biology class. "Any more than you can control your friends from calling me Ice Quinn or those other names they call me."

"I can get Kurt to stop that," Rachel said. "Once he's speaking to me again. I mean, he and Blaine had wanted to be in the same quad since last year."

"I know how they feel," Quinn said.

"I'm sorry that Finn and Puck didn't get you," Rachel said sincerely.

"I am too," Quinn said. "But I'll live."

Rachel nodded. "We both will," she said, shifting her weight.

"We'd better get inside," Quinn said, leading her to their lab table.

**A/N: Ok. So how bad was it? Anything I need to clarify? Leave a review in the box below, please and thank you! **


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